The first running of the Snowden Trail Challenge on Sunday, Sept. 6 was a resounding success.
Race director Arlene Halwa said, “I knew there was a demand for an ultra distance trail running event in Campbell River. Coupled with the mountain bike events, we had a great response from the community.”
Entrants came from all over Vancouver Island and as far away as Quesnel to participate.
Racers could choose from a 50K or 25k trail run or mountain bike, a 50K team category or a 14K trail run.
All events took place on the Snowden Forest trails with the start and the finish at the PRT (Pacific Regeneration Technologies).
The winners were:
- 50K trail run Darren Smith (Nanaimo) 4:31:33;
- 50K bike Justin Mark (Nanaimo) 2:31:25;
- 25K run Mike Bridges (Merville) 2:05:08;
- 25K bike Chris Winkelaar (Comox) 1:31:51;
- 14K run Erin Jensen, only 13 years old (Nanaimo) 1:23:58.
Halwa was delighted with the turn out and said that “We could not have done this without the support from the PRT, the Campbellton Neighbourhood Association, Boston Pizza and the River City Cycle Club who maintain all the trails in the Snowden forest.”
For more information on Snowden Forest trails go to www.rivercitycycle.ca/downloads